Sperm bank

Girofiv

The GIROFIV Sperm Bank provides solutions for a broad range of problems:

Donor sperm samples:

  • For sterile couples on account of severe male infertility.
  • For couples in which the man is the carrier of a genetic disorder that can be passed on to children, or the carrier of a chromosomal abnormality.
  • For women who wish to become mothers without a male partner.

Freezing of semen samples:

  • For patients who wish to have a vasectomy yet keep their fertility.
  • For patients who require treatments that may affect their semen quality.

Freezing of testicular biopsy samples
 

Semen samples that are not from an anonymous donor may be conserved in the Sperm Bank throughout the patient’s life.

Selection of sperm donors

Semen donation is voluntary, anonymous and altruistic. 95% of donors are university students with an average age of 21 years old.

How does the Sperm Bank work?

The origin and selection of sperm donors is one of the most controlled aspects of the Sperm Bank.

GIROFIV has established a collaboration agreement with different sperm banks outside the Girona region. These centres select the donors, freeze the semen, control quality and undertake special transport. The preservation of anonymity is a very important aspect throughout the process.

Donors are subject to a very thorough selection process that covers:

  • Personal and family health history
  • Study of the seminal values and survival test upon freezing
    • Spermatozoa concentration of 80 million per millilitre or higher
    • Motility of over 50%
    • Normal morphology of over 15%
    • Absence of contamination in urine culture
       
  • Sexually transmitted disease testing
    • In addition to standard analyses, HIV 1+2, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, cytomegalovirus and Chlamydia trachomatis tests are performed. All these tests are repeated regularly while the donor is active.
       
  • Test for diseases of genetic origin.
    • Karyotype
    • Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis
    • Carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy
    • Genetic screening for Fragile X syndrome.
    • Tests for alterations in haematological and coagulation parameters (thalassaemia and Von Willebrand disease)